Tom Steyer
Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions

Tom is the founder and co-executive chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, a climate-focused global investment firm. Central to the firm’s thesis is the belief of an absolute, unequivocal need to win in the marketplace with clean products and services that are cheaper, faster, and better. He is also a New York Times bestselling author, having released his first book Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We’ll Win the Climate War in May 2024.

After earning his MBA from Stanford, in 1986 Steyer founded Farallon Capital Management, a San Francisco-based hedge fund that pioneered the strategy known as “absolute return investing,” and which grew to $36 billion in assets under management. In 2012, he left his firm to devote his time, money, and energy to climate issues. Steyer played a key role in preserving California's Global Warming Solutions Act, while also working to pass clean energy initiatives and advocate for environmental justice across the country. He also co-founded Beneficial State Bank, a triple bottom line community development bank focused on justice and sustainability, and TomKat Ranch, a regenerative ranch dedicated to raising cattle with a negative carbon footprint.

In 2013, Steyer founded NextGen America (formerly known as NextGen Climate), the largest youth voter engagement organization in American history, whose climate-focused messaging and outreach helped lead to record levels of youth turnout in recent elections. He was a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate with a campaign centered on addressing climate change, and later that year he served as co-chair for California Governor Gavin Newsom's Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force. In addition, he co-chaired Vice President Biden’s Climate Engagement Advisory Council to help mobilize climate voters. Tom lives in San Francisco, enjoys spending time with family, and can always be counted on by friends to relay the latest climate data (whether they are interested in hearing it or not).

Ali Zaidi
Former White House National Climate Advisor

Ali Zaidi is a leading expert in climate innovation and investment who served, from 2022 to 2025, as the U.S. National Climate Advisor and head of the White House Climate Policy Office. During this time, Zaidi worked to accelerate U.S. climate and clean energy efforts by designing, negotiating, and implementing a wide range of executive actions and key legislation – including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Zaidi previously held leadership roles in the Obama administration and served as New York’s Chairman of Climate Policy and Finance. He has advised non-profits, including as a Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council; counseled the private sector, as an attorney focused on fund formation, M&A, and governance; co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, an initiative that equips sustainability-focused startups with pro bono legal services; and taught graduate courses on technology policy at Stanford University. Zaidi received an A.B. from Harvard University and J.D. from Georgetown University.

Sophie purdom
Co-Founder, CTVC & Managing Partner at Planeteer Capital

Sophie Purdom is the Managing Partner of Planeteer Capital, a $55M Fund I which invests in and supports early-stage founders with a focus on climate tech hardware-enabled software.

She is also the co-founder of CTVC and Sightline Climate, a newsletter and strategic data platform with 70,000+ subscribers, widely recognized as climate tech's source of record and featured in the Financial Times, New York Times, Bloomberg, and other major outlets.

Previously, Sophie supported the launch of an ESG investment fund at the Brown University endowment, published a book on sustainable investing, worked at Bain & Co., and helped found a company and raise $65M to develop carbon-negative fertilizer.

Rob Dunbar, Ph.D.
W.M. Keck Professor of Earth Sciences, Stanford University

Rob Dunbar is the W.M. Keck Professor in the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University, where he also serves as a Professor of Oceans and a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. His research focuses on climate dynamics, oceanography, marine ecology, and biogeochemistry, with an emphasis on environmental problem-solving. He has been instrumental in initiatives such as the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program and the Ocean Observatories Initiative. In 2004, he co-founded the Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium (PARC) to support research and conservation of Pacific coral reefs.

Dunbar was also the founding director of Stanford’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) and later led the Earth Systems Program. His contributions to education earned him the J. Frederick and Elisabeth B. Weintz University Fellowship in Undergraduate Education. Recognized for his work in polar and marine science, he received the SCAR Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research in 2016. Dunbar holds a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.S. in Geology from the University of Texas, Austin.